


Know Him Better

by methylviolet10b



Category: Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms, Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: 221B Ficlet, Charity Auctions, Introspection, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-11
Updated: 2017-11-11
Packaged: 2019-01-31 19:22:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12688638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/methylviolet10b/pseuds/methylviolet10b
Summary: Holmes and Watson each reflect on how the other is viewed. Written for okapi1895 as part of the fandomlovespuertorico fundraiser.





	Know Him Better

**Author's Note:**

  * For [okapi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/okapi/gifts).



> A few weeks ago, I participated in the [community profile] fandomlovespuertorico fundraising auction. I put several items up for bid, including drabbles and 221(b)s. Okapi was kind enough to bid on a 221(b). Inspired by her generosity, I wrote two. :-) She provided the following tantalizing words. I used all five.
> 
> Bewitch  
>  Beholden  
>  Beware  
>  Beset  
>  Besmirch

Know Him Better #1:   
  
If you merely judged John Watson from surface appearances, you would never suspect he could bewitch someone. Neither his appearance nor his demeanour suggests anything out of the ordinary. He is a common English gentleman, beholden to British ideals and defined by them.  
  
Easy to believe that, easy to dismiss him, unless you take the trouble to observe, and not just look.  
  
His coterie of admirers alone should alert any reasonable observer that there is more to Watson than meets the eye. He is beset by them – or _would_ be, if he noticed their attentions. He does not. Watson misses nine advances out of ten, and yet has a notable history of success (three continents worth!) where he wishes to succeed. It is not his appearance that wins him these victories, any more than it is his manners that inspired the loyalty that dragged him, wounded and bleeding, out of the hell of Maiwand. It is something else.  
  
A wise detective knows to beware contradictions, and investigate them.  
  
I do not besmirch Watson’s reputation with a recital of these details. I merely use them to highlight what should be obvious. The real John Watson – my John Watson – is nothing like the ordinary, unremarkable man so many assume him to be, including himself.  
  
I see. I observe. And I know him better.

 

 

Know Him Better #2:  
  
All of London – and beyond – knows to beware Sherlock Holmes.   
  
He is feared by more than criminals. The intimidated include generations of Scotland Yard Inspectors, whom he has beset and bewildered in the course of cases. There are superstitious cabbies who believe Holmes can bewitch a horse and whistle loudly enough to wake the dead. The proud and the pompous; the mendacious and the malicious; all have reason to be afraid.   
  
I know these tales. Indeed, I wrote the stories that fostered many of those legends. Some besmirch the truth to the point that when I write of genuine incidents that belie them, I am disbelieved.  
  
Such is the nature of fiction, and stories, and legends that turn into facts that everyone knows.  
  
There are some truths behind the fears. But so too are the other truths that others discount: the kindness behind the stern façade; the thirst for equality and justice in Bohemian manners; the generosity of spirt that makes those beholden to him fortunate indeed. The faith in others that leads him to demand their best, and sometimes fuels his disappointment.   
  
I have been privileged to witness far more than many. Others will never know the subtleties, the complexities, the contradictions that make the man. They prefer the simple ‘truths’ to the complicated reality. But I know him better.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted November 9, 2017. Thank you to Okapi and to everyone who donated, bid, and otherwise helped raise money for the people of Puerto Rico!


End file.
